When I think of two screens, I think of a stressful work environment. Two computer screens to get things done faster or to do more is the norm inside of hectic offices. But, it might soon be the smartphone norm as well.
Unveiled in Japan last month, NEC has just introduced a two-screen smartphone called the NTT-Docomo. This phone has two screens, which NEC claims produces twice the fun. If you use your phone for entertainment reasons only, two screens could be more fun.
On the flipside, if you use your phone for work purposes, a dual-screen phone might just be incredibly stressful. Regardless, the NEC NTT-Docomo is here to stay, for now. Just in case you love the idea of two screens on your phone, here’s what you’ll find when the dual-screen phone hits markets in North America.
Colored Displays and More
The NTT-Docomo has two fully colored and vibrant 4.3-inch display screens. This phone also folds, just in case you want to tuck one of those screens away while it’s not in use. If you can’t imagine a phone folding, think of a room divider that folds backwards to conceal a part of a room.
Testers have found that the NEC phone folds effortlessly too, so tucking away part of your phone shouldn’t be too hard. When the phone is folded, the unused panel simply shuts off to reduce battery usage.
If you want to share a screen image with someone sitting in front of you, it is possible to fold this phone in a tent-like fashion. The phone does sit propped up without much effort. NEC has put some thought into the overall design of this phone too.
One good example of the thought process behind the NTT-Docomo phone is the way that this phone displays emails. On the right side of the screen users can view individual email contents. On the left side of the screen sits the usual view of an email inbox. So, as you can see, two screens have a purpose here. This phone can also be viewed in landscape mode.
Different Screen Views
Here’s where the NTT gets tricky. When placing this phone in landscape view, a giant touchscreen keyboard pops up. You can use this keyboard to type or to take photos (photo keys are included in the keyboard setup).
Here a dual-screen phone actually makes sense. After all, having a keyboard that’s really just too small is overly frustrating. So, what’s inside of NEC’s new smartphone?
Specs and other Details
Inside the NTT phone you will find 1GB of RAM; 1.5GHz processor; 16GB of storage; and a microSD slot available if you want to expand that storage. This phone also has an 8.1-megapixel camera. Interestingly, the battery included in this phone doesn’t have a long life, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Presumably, you will use up a lot of juice with this dual-screen phone, so why not include a battery that can keep up? In any case, the NTT phone from NEC is only in Japan for the time being. It’s not likely that the phone will show up in North American anytime soon, since Japan is such a bigger (and more open-minded) market.
Regardless, I’m guessing that NEC won’t be the only manufacturer working on a dual-screen monster like this one. It seems that two screens are better than one, and that’s the direction that manufacturers are headed in!